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「Trans」Yoochun; Interview with Park Yoochun Part 1

When JYJ member Park Yoochun first accepted his acting role, many people asked questions such as, “Why is a singer acting?” But Park Yoochun’s challenge has gained him high acclaim. Acting in last year’s KBS drama “Sungkyunkwan Scandal,” and in the 2010 KBS Drama Awards, he won the Best Newcomer Award and Netizen Award, getting 3 awards in total, gaining public attention once again for his market value.

The perfect “gentleman,” Park Yoochun, during his time in TVXQ, was known for both his talents and looks, and was a star with limitless potential.

In Japan, he gained attention for participating in the Japanese mobile television BeeTV’s drama. His entertainment career was one that people would be envious of, but at this time, his life was suddenly faced with a big challenge, which is the lawsuit against SM Entertainment. Furthermore, he and the other 2 members Jaejoong and Junsu, after leaving their original group, formed JYJ, but their performing activities faced various obstacles, not allowing them to move forward.

But, did he eat some elixir of youth? Park Yoochun’s talents are still actively exhibited in front of everybody. Recently, he has been fortunate enough to have a mountain of projects to pick from. Like a carp swimming against the rushing currents, he is pushing forward for the sake of challenging himself. This is the Park Yoochun that I see.

When I first saw you, it was in 2004 during TVXQ’s debut song “HUG.” 7 years have passed in a flash. During that time, you looked really polite and sincere, do you still hear such words now?

Just like now, to meet people that I had met previously, and still being able to hear such compliments, I’m really feeling good! I started off as a singer, so what I worry about the most is whether I would mix confidence and arrogance up. Even now, no matter where I go, I still maintain the same type of humility as before, and hope to leave a good impression on people.

Congratulations on winning 3 awards at the KBS Drama Awards. You only did one project, and you managed to achieve such results, this goes to show that you are really popular! To be successful in both music and acting industries, what is your secret?”

This is an embarrassing question for me. (Laughs) I’ve never thought of this, I feel that this project just fell nicely into place. (Not only was it successful, but successful three times over.) Many singers choose to go into acting, and to overcome the burden I had during that time, I worked even harder, and I didn’t think too much about the success or failure. This is how I managed to concentrate on acting, and commit myself to the role. The secret of popularity…hmm…I wonder if this is the same logic as being a whiteboard? Honestly speaking, although it is not always in a state of total cleanliness, but when required, it will be filled, yet it can be erased, so that I can continue to plan whatever I want on it.

Recently, the trend of entertainment industry has been changing rapidly, so it is common for singers to do acting as well. Your situation is the same as other artists, but I want to know, what is your true aim in wanting to act? Was it some opportunity, that made you want to be an actor?

After I started out as an actor, I really wanted to try acting. I really wanted to study acting properly. During Sungkyunkwan Scandal, a lot of people asked me: “(You’ve been in the entertainment industry,) why are you only starting to act now?” But I feel that even starting to act now may be a little early! The reason I wanted to act…is because I really wanted to act.

Recently, via the KBS Drama Awards, you finally managed to get perform on stage after a long time. The fans were also anticipating your performance, but you only managed to sing one drama theme song, and the fans did somewhat feel like it was a pity, since it is JYJ’s stage in front of the fans after all. Did you feel any regret?

Actually, I too would like to perform more for everyone, but circumstances didn’t allow it. Even though it was just one song, we were still very happy. We, too want to sing our own songs, but just the feeling of standing on stage, it’s really very good. Maybe it’s been too long since we’ve been of stage, so we were really able to enjoy the stage comfortably. As for regrets… it’s not just us, but the fans present as well as the viewers on stage were all able to feel it. I hope that this year, we will be able to have better performances for everyone to see.